Emmanuel Macron’s shrinking revolution

President Emmanuel Macron was supposed to cut back France’s bureaucracy, including office workers at this government complex in the La Defense district, Paris (source: dpa)

The new French government’s tax cuts have been largely offset by new levies

Promised reductions in public sector employment are also not materializing

Mr. Macron’s go-slow approach is highly vulnerable to economic or political shocks

The popularity of Emmanuel Macron is easy to understand: France’s 40-year-old president is youthful and chic, with a rhetorical style that recalls JFK and the personal charm of a Justin Trudeau. His ambitions are attractive, too – to get rid of the traditional right-left divide on the political scene, sweep away the “corrupt” old parties, and transform a country in dire need of reform. He even pledged to shake up the Common Agricultural Policy – until now a taboo subject for any French leader.

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